Keep on Trying
by By the Sounding Sea
Summary: After Booth breaks up with Hannah, Angela convinces him to try to tell Brennan that he still loves her. I suck at summaries.


**I wrote this in June and never got around to uploading it. I'm not entirely sure how good it is. You'd have to tell me. I think it's adequate. I've written better. Regardless, here it is. Of course, I do not own _Bones_. Enjoy!**

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><p>I walked into the Royal Diner. Angela had invited—well, more like ordered—me to meet her there at noon, and it didn't really seem open to discussion. I spotted her sitting at the counter with a glass of Diet Coke in front of her. I sat down on the stool beside her.<p>

"Hello, Booth," Angela greeted, but she wouldn't look at me. Instead, she drew pictures with her index finger on the condensating glass.

"Hi, Angela," I answered questioningly. She said nothing. "So…mind if I ask why you told me to come here?"

She took a long sip of Coke. "I want to talk to you about Brennan."

My eyes narrowed and I felt my muscles become rigid. "What about her?"

Angela took another agonizingly long sip of Coke. A waiter placed a plate of French fries in front of her. She began to eat, but she didn't offer me one, which is a shame, because I was hungry.

"So?" I said again. "What about her?" It was making me nervous that she still hadn't looked at me.

"Hannah's gone," she finally stated. "I was wondering what your next step was."

"My next step?"

She ate a fry. "I know you know I know."

"You know I know you know what?"

"Please don't play stupid," Angela said. "It's irritating. I know you know that I know you still love Brennan. Everybody does. Except for Brennan. She thinks you don't love her anymore. But she still loves you."

"Angela, what are you saying?"

She took another lengthily drink. "What did I say about playing stupid?" She finally made eye contact. "I've got a rhetorical question for you. How could you do that to her? How could you just leave her alone in the pounding rain, bawling? Look, I know she hurt you last year. But did you ever think that maybe your rejection hurt her more? I'm just guessing here, but getting your heart broken by the only man you trust probably isn't a very pleasant experience."

"Look, Angela, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt Bones—"

"You know, she called me that night after you left her alone in the rain," Angela said, cutting me off. "She was completely distraught, inconsolable. Really, it broke my heart. I mean, Brennan is so good at concealing her emotions, it's really easy to forget sometimes that she hurts, too. But she does. She feels everything. And for one night, she lost her somewhat admirable control over her emotions. And it just made me so sad to have to listen to a Brennan that I don't know. An irrational, uncontrollable Brennan. And because she was just _so miserable_. But I was also very proud of her, you know? And you should be, too. She finally told you how she felt."

"Just to be clear," I interrupted, "she never _actually_ said she loved me. She just said that she missed her chance."

"That's her awkward way of saying it," Angela said. "And you know that. Anyway, as I was saying. Ever since that night, Brennan's been totally lost and confused and broken. And yeah, she's really good at hiding it, and you have to know her really, really well to notice it, but it's there. I see it, and I know you do, too. You just don't want to admit it because you know that you caused it. And I can only think of one way to correct this issue." She popped a fry in her mouth.

"Which is?" I asked.

"Tell her the truth," Angela finally said. "Set her straight. Tell her that you love her."

"But…what if she doesn't believe me or trust me, or what if she runs away?" I asked. "I wouldn't blame her if she didn't trust me anymore. You're right; I did break her heart."

"Pulverized it to dust," Angela added, tossing another fry into her mouth. "But you might be able to fix it. You know, she kept telling me how she didn't want to take a chance with another man. She said the pain wasn't worth it. She's really been suffering, Booth. She's really been hurting. Struggling."

I felt a sharp stab in my stomach. Poor Bones. In hindsight, I can't believe I did that to her, either. I can't believe I left her alone in the rain. I saw her crying. She wasn't even trying to hide it. How could I have just left her there?

"So what if she runs away or doesn't understand?" I asked again.

Angela took another long sip of Coke and shrugged. "Then you tell her again. You make her understand. Regain her complete, unconditional trust in you. Which is way easier said than done, I'm aware. Pick up the pieces and repair her broken heart." She hopped off her stool and began to leave.

"Wait!" I called. "Where are you going?"

"I've said all I have to say," Angela said casually. She walked out to the street and yelled over her shoulder, "Thanks for lunch!" I looked at the counter and realized she hadn't paid for any of her food. Grumbling, I dug a twenty out of my pocket and slammed it on the table. The cashier gave me a nod, so I walked out and drove to the Jeffersonian.

**XXX**

"Hey, Bones!" I greeted cheerfully as I strode into her office. She was glaring very intently at her computer screen.

"Hi, Booth," she responded without prying her eyes away from the screen. Two women evading eye contact with me in one day. Super.

"Whatcha doin'?" I asked, sticking my head over her shoulder. She quickly minimized whatever it was she was working on before I could read it.

"Nothing that concerns you," she answered. "Why are you here? Do we have a case?"

"Nope!" I said. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the diner with me." Bones gave me this weird, suspicious look, a look that I recognized. She hadn't given me that look since we first started working together. That look kind of stung. "What? We grab a bite at the diner together all the time."

"Not lately, we haven't," she responded quietly. Another pang in my gut. She gave me her cautious, analytical look for a few moments. Finally, she said, "Fine," rose from her seat, and walked out. I grinned and ran to catch up with her.

**XXX**

We settled down at our usual table, and then Bones gave me that look yet again. It really made me sad that she was so suspicious of me. After a minute, she seemed to relax a bit, but was still on guard.

"Why did you ask me to come here, Booth?" Bones asked.

"C'mon, Bones!" I said brightly. "We always go to the diner!"

"Like I said earlier, we haven't lately," she said, a slight edge evident in her voice.

"Yeah, well, let's fix that," I said.

"You mean, make things go back to normal?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes. Well, no." She stared at me, obviously confused. "I want things to be next to normal, Bones."

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly, still confused and apprehensive.

I wasn't sure how to proceed. I couldn't just blurt out, "Bones, I love you." She'd freak out and run away for sure. But then, sometimes being direct is the only way to make her understand something. I decided to try to make her understand without being too blunt.

"Well…Hannah and I aren't 'Hannah and I' anymore," I said carefully. She sat back in her chair and swung her legs to the side, like she was going to run. Crap.

"Yeah…"

"Look, Bones, I'm really, really sorry about that thing that happened a few months ago."

"No apology necessary," she said hastily. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, Bones, I'm glad you did," I said quickly. "That showed me how much you've, like, grown and stuff over the past six years. Look, Bones, I know you haven't been, like, right since that night. I'm totally pissed at myself. I can't believe I left you alone in the pounding rain. I just can't believe I did that."

"You had someone to get home to. Someone more important than me. I understand," Bones said emotionlessly.

"No, Bones, that's not true," I said firmly. "That is absolutely, one hundred percent not true. I'm sorry if you think that."

"By definition, Hannah was more important than me," she said. "Girlfriend overrules partner."

"Bones, you're not just my partner, you're my best friend, too, okay?" I said. "Best friend trumps girlfriend. And either way, there's no excuse for what I did and how I treated you that night. I don't know what was going on in my mind."

"You _did_ save my life," Bones pointed out. "I'm not sure what was going on in _my_ mind that night, either. I was completely irrational. I didn't think about what I was doing. It was foolish."

"Bones…what you did, that's not something you think about. That's something you only do spontaneously. And sometimes you just shock the other person and scare them away. That's the problem. Sometimes the other person will feel the same way, but they'll be caught off guard or not ready to show it yet. You know that, Bones, right?" I watched her become stiff. She had a nervous expression on her face. Damn.

"I'm going to leave," she said, quickly rising from her seat.

"Bones, wait," I called after her.

"We'll talk later," she said as she walked out. I sighed, frustrated.

"S'alright, son," said the same cashier that had been watching me and Angela before. He had a thick Texan drawl. "She'll come 'round. Just keep on tryin'." I gave him a dark glare and he quickly walked away.

Though I know he's right. And so is Angela. I'll make Bones understand eventually. I just have to keep on trying.


End file.
